


you were good to me

by minkawritesfic, ohwhoopsiedaisy



Series: it hasn't been easy, darling [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: (unrealistic depiction of living on the streets), Alleys are mentioned a lot, Backstory, F/M, Freeform, Jason Todd Deserves Happiness, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Kids trying to make the most out of their situation, Origin Story, The streets of Gotham no less, because it's Gotham, there's some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 21:14:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30061638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minkawritesfic/pseuds/minkawritesfic, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohwhoopsiedaisy/pseuds/ohwhoopsiedaisy
Summary: really, with everything life has thrown at him (and, mind you, it was A LOT) jason todd is still alive.just barelyliving on the streets of gotham isn't easy by a mile and jason can only fend for himselfuntil life decides to give him a shadow...or, the story of how jason todd met suri mallory
Relationships: Jason Todd & Original Female Character(s)
Series: it hasn't been easy, darling [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1971028
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> title comes from "you were good to me" by jeremy zucker & chelsea cutler
> 
> a short fic that peaks into the life of jason and suri when they were still living on the streets. a bunch of moments shared between two kids who are just trying to get by.

In just a few hours of living on the streets, Jason Todd becomes familiar with one of many unspoken rules of Gotham City—unless you can kill for it, nothing belongs to you. The cardboard box he slept in during his first night was gone the next and the alleyway he was begrudgingly starting to call home was soon claimed by someone much larger and unstable than he was.

 _Soon,_ Jason tells himself, hands stuffed into the pockets of jeans much too large for him, soon he’s going to be able to fight for himself and have his own goddamn alley to come home to at the end of the day and his own shitty cardboard box to curl up in at night.

Soon comes in just under a month of scrapping by in Crime Alley. He does not make friends but there are a couple of homeless people (no one _bad,_ just unlucky) willing to share their space in exchange for food.

Food is something Jason knows how to get.

He is short, fast, and has not been around long enough for people in the area to be suspicious of him, let alone catch him.

He isn’t sure how long that’s going to last but for now, for now he has food and his very own cardboard box (a mini fridge box, no less!) with his name written on it.

Literally.

He signed it J.T. because, dammit, he earned it.

“Hey, Paulie, I managed to snag us some—” the words die on Jason’s lips when he sees his, for lack of a better word, alley-mate crouching next to a girl no older than he was.

She’s sitting on _his_ cardboard box. Jason can barely contain his scowl.

“Oh! Jay-jay! Lookie what I found,” Paulie waves him over, grinning. He’s missing his two front teeth but he smiles like he has a complete set of pearly whites. 

“A new friend?” Jason tries to keep his voice even, nonchalant. He does not know who this girl is and although she looks like a gentle breeze could blow her away, Jason knows that you can’t let your guard down in these godforsaken streets.

“Better! Money!” Paulie, not one to think before he acts, grabs a fistful of the girl’s long, thick hair in his fat, grubby hands with enough force to make her lurch forward. “Lookie at all her hair!”

Paulie barely has enough time to say that they could sell it—because of course you can sell it—when the girl pulls out a knife and drives it through Paulie’s arm.

“Ah, _shit._ ”

Jason is quick to run to the girl’s side and restrain her, pulling her hands behind her back and dragging her away from Paulie who was now rolling around the grimy floor, screaming his head off. The girl struggles against his grip, her hair whipping around, and she _hisses_ at Paulie.

Jason tugs her back a little harder and thinks that he should be one of two things:

  1. Scared of the mysterious cardboard stealing, knife wielding, _hissing_ girl or
  2. Concerned over the blood pouring out of Paulie’s arm because, dammit, he somehow pulled the knife out



But all Jason can think about is how he dropped the basket of bread he stole from an unattended table (they had it coming!). He watches rats crawl from under the dumpster, squeaking like they’re _singing,_ to feed on it.

…

Paulie’s lucky that they were able to catch a nurse coming home from her shift. She lives in the _somewhat_ good part of a bad town and offers help when she can. It’s just a matter of being able to catch her.

Odd hours and all that.

Jason had to sprint just to get to the nurse before she walked into her apartment building. Rumor has it that once the door is closed, it’s impossible to get her back out. (She’s nice but not _that_ nice). He’s pretty sure he scared her half to death when he got to her and he’s glad that she isn’t the kind of nurse who carries—he thinks of all the hospital equipment he can name—a _scalpel_ with her keys (even though she should. Her apartment building still isn’t in the _nice_ part of town.)

The nurse takes one look at Paulie’s arm, lets out a sigh Jason thinks only women who’ve seen it all can do, and gestures the man to follow her. Jason opts to wait outside. He doesn’t want to get comfortable.

The girl, for whatever reason, had followed them and is now waiting with Jason. She’s curled up in herself, knees to her chest, her hair acting like some kind of curtain. Jason thinks Paulie’s right about it being easy money. Nice hair like that, (relatively) clean and thick, would earn them a pretty penny.

But he doesn’t want to get stabbed.

The girl meets his gaze and Jason thinks that something about her is different now.

No, it’s not because she’s no longer hissing.

Maybe it’s her eyes?

They don’t seem so angry anymore. Guarded.

She looks even younger now, staring at him.

Jason takes in her appearance, looks past prominent features, and sees that maybe she should have had the nurse check her, too.

The girl’s covered in wounds and dirty, unraveling bandages. Her arms and legs are scratched and bruised and Jason cannot imagine what’s hiding under the wrapping around her neck. Her lip is busted and he’s pretty sure that she had a black eye at one point.

“Is…uhm…man okay? Will _be_ okay?”

Her voice shakes him out of his thoughts. Her words come out slow and quiet, whispering like if she talks any louder, something bad might come.

Well, anything can happen in Gotham.

“Paulie? He’s had worse things happen to him. He’ll be fine.” Jason shrugs because it’s true. Paulie’s always gets into some kind of trouble. It’s probably why he likes to stay in his spot—controlled (or as controlled as it can be) environment.

“Good… that’s good.”

“Yeah,” Jason scratches the back of his neck and thinks that maybe he should have followed Paulie into the apartment. This is awkward. “So…what’s your deal?”

He already hates himself for asking.

The girl’s eyes flash and Jason mind practically screams _Stabbing! Stabby Mc-Hiss is back!_

“ _Nothing_.” If venom could be _heard,_ Jason’s pretty sure that’s what it sounds like.

She blinks and her shoulders droop. Her fingers play with the bandage around her neck, pulling against it like it’s wrapped too tightly.

“Live. I want…to live.”

Jason feels himself relax against the wall behind him.

“Tell me about it.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Suri!” Jason tries not to sound _too_ annoyed but the girl is two steps away from walking into a telephone booth and he really doesn’t feel like dealing with the aftermath of _that._ “Over here.”

After Paulie got his arm bandaged up (“Would ya like to sign it, Jay-jay? Ya can draw on it, too, princess.”) and they returned, well, _home,_ the girl said her name was Suri Mallory.

Apparently, she ran away from home and wondered into in Paulie’s alley. She swears that she was only taking a break, figure out her next step, before the “oopsie” (Paulie’s choice of words, _obviously_ ) happened and seemed to cement her in their lives.

Jason can’t imagine why Crime Alley would be the place to run to but he guesses that anywhere is better than Crown Point.

“What…uh… _do_ today?” Suri asks once she catches up with him, hand twitching like she wants to grab hold of something.

Jason isn’t quite sure what he did or said that made Suri—what is it that newborn ducks do?— _imprint_ on him but here she is, always one step behind him, long hair swaying behind her like a goddamn cape.

It’s hard enough trying to keep a low profile when he does his job (Jason hates to think about having to move to a different location if people start recognizing him, seeing a _pattern_ ), he does not need some _shadow_ to give him away.

Or worse, slow him down.

“We just need some cash.” Jason keeps his voice low and posture casual.

_Play it cool, Todd._

_You have just as much a right to waltz down these streets as anyone. Nothing wrong with a little window shopping—hey, that’s the Italian restaurant that leaves their garlic bread unattended!_

“Sur—where’d she go _._ Suri!”

Suri’s practically got her face glued to the electronics store window. The TVs on display are playing some kind of cartoon based on some blonde doll that Jason sees everywhere. The name is on the tip of Jason’s tongue and he knows it’s going to bother him all day.

Suri points at the TV, with this _excitement_ that Jason’s never seen her have before, finger jamming against the window enough times for it to be annoying. She looks at Jason, eyes wide, practically _sparkling._ Jason can pretty much guess what’s she’s asking without her having to speak.

“It’s a movie.” Jason doesn’t give her time to repeat his words, practice it, he just grabs her wrist and pulls her away from the glass. The employee inside is giving them a dirty look. “C’mon. We don’t got all day.”

…

It’s always the careless ones, the ones who don’t have the good instinct to look over their shoulder, that think nothing’s going to happen to them until something _does_ and then start wondering _how can this happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?_

News flash. You’re in Gotham.

Anyway, Jason doesn’t necessarily _target_ these people but he has to admit, sometimes it’s just easier and, well, why shouldn’t he take advantage to things that are easy?

God knows that Jason’s life so far hasn’t exactly been that.

The man, _teenager_ , really, behind the cash register looks like he rather be anywhere else but here. He’s slouching, eyes glazed, mouthing to the song playing on the speakers. Every time his phone _dings_ , he reaches for it, taps, and then scrolls for a couple of minutes, shoulders shaking at whatever he’s looking at.

Jason’s never worked before—not without reason. He’s _tried_ to find a job but everywhere he goes says he’s too young—but he’s pretty sure being on the phone is against the rules.

The phone rings, blasting this tune that Jason’s sure will play in his head when he tries to sleep, and the cashier goes into another room, phone pressed to his ear, a disgustingly wide, _dopey_ smile on his face.

Gross.

But, good.

Now’s Jason’s chance.

Here he—why isn’t he moving?

He looks down and sees that Suri’s holding onto his sleeve, shaking her head when he frowns.

Dammit. Why does she do this? Doesn’t she want to eat?

“Go there and wait for me,” he says, pointing towards what looks like an ice cream shop. It’s somewhat deserted. (Ha ha.) It’s a slow day.

Suri shakes her head harder, hair flying, and it seems like she’s struggling to get her words out.

She gets like that sometimes—can’t find the right things to say, doesn’t _know_ the right things to say, so she uses actions instead.

Most of the time he gets it.

Other times…

“Fine. _Fine._ Stay _here_ and keep quiet,” he orders, taking his arm back. “I’ll be quick.”

Suri stares up at him in what he thinks is her attempt at a glare. It’s good, but all he can focus on is that her eyes are tired—bloodshot, just like his. No one can get a wink of sleep out here, least of all a bunch of kids.

She shakes her head again.

“I’m not going to take anything he’ll miss,” Jason says, thinking that maybe that’s what she’s concerned about. He looks back at the shop and, as gently as he can, which is not really all that gentle because this girl is costing him precious _seconds_ , pushes her back. “Stay.”

…

It’s almost too easy for Jason to get into the cash register and swipe enough bills to last two, maybe three days if he’s lucky. He thinks about Suri’s skinny wrists and the bandage around Paulie’s arm and is just about to take a few more bills— _just in case—_ when the teenager comes back.

Jason scowls and feels the weight of the knife, Suri’s knife, in his pocket.

“You! Kid!” The teenager squawks like there’s someone else he could be talking to. “Put that back!”

“Really?” Jason can barely keep himself from rolling his eyes. He stuffs the cash in his pocket and reaches for his knife. “Tell me, do you think that would work?”

“The cameras! You’ll get-get caught!”

Jason smirks and gestures to the camera in question—turned off with a simple click of a button. The footage? Deleted. Amazing how easy computers are nowadays.

“Nice try,” Jason says and he steps around the cash register and heads towards the door. Suri should be waiting for him outside if she’s good. “Maybe think twice before you call your girlfriend at work, yeah?”

He’s confident.

Too confident that he’ll make it out the door without anyone getting in his way.

He’s almost a second too late to turn when the teenager makes a run for him, arms out to grab him. Jason brings out his knife, eyes locked onto his target—oh he’s taller than he thought—and is just about to swing it when the teenager falls flat on his face.

Jason’s jaw definitely drops when he sees Suri with standing in front of him with a wooden plank in her hand. It’s obvious that she attacked the teenager from behind, swung the plank with all the strength in her tiny body, but Jason has a hard time believing his eyes.

Maybe this isn’t real. Maybe the teenager got to _him_ and this is all a hallucination. Maybe he’s been thrown out the shop, unconscious, and Suri’s still waiting for him in the spot he told her to stay. Maybe—

The teenager lets out a groan and looks like he’s about to push himself off of the floor when Suri drops the plank on his head, knocking him off balance.

“Su—”

“Let’s _go!_ ” Suri’s by his side in an instant, practically walked over the teenager’s body to get to him, both hands around his wrist. “Go! Go!”

Suri drags him out of the store, through the main door no less (Jason’s going to have to talk to her about this, discuss strategies), and they run. Jason stumbles a bit, especially when they make a sharp turn around a corner and enter a busy street, but Suri just keeps running.

Jason thinks that someone’s going to go after them—they aren’t exactly being inconspicuous—and he’s about to tell Suri to slow the heck down but Suri makes another turn into an alleyway and ducks behind a dumpster, dragging him down with her.

Jason’s lucky he doesn’t bang his head against the concrete and unceremoniously plops down next to her. The ground is cold under his hands and he’s pretty sure some sort of moisture (don’t think about it, don’t think about it) is seeping through his jeans yet Jason repeatedly tugs at the collar of his shirt to fan himself. His heart is beating so hard that he can feel the pounding in his ears.

“Okay?” Suri says through heavy breaths and Jason can’t help but push her hair away from her face and wipe the sweat off her brow. Suri’s head is slightly pushed back from the action but eventually she leans into his touch.

“I’m okay,” he says because Suri always asks, needs to know that he’s okay. “You did good back there.”

It’s probably a trick of light, his eyes blurring from fatigue or something, but Suri seems to glow from his praise, a smile on her lips and her eyes sparkling in the way they did when she saw the princess on the TV earlier today.

Somehow Jason feels _embarrassed_ from her gaze and he roughs up her hair in response (it’s a mess of tangles that they’re going to have to figure out how to deal with) causing it to fall over her face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter has two different scenes. the second part doesn't come directly after the first. it's just another day of life on the streets for them.

Jason likes books.

He doesn’t really get to read them all that often—his parents never had any lying around and the books in his old school’s library were always scribbled on—but sometimes, when the day is slow, Jason visits this old bookstore selling secondhand books and he disappears into a world far better than the one he’s in.

He thinks about this one book he saw in passing. The name escapes him right now but he’s pretty sure it was a story about a collection of bad events.

Beaten, bruised and propped up against a concrete wall with some sort of _slime_ residue that he really hopes is _nothing_ , Jason’s pretty sure that book is the story of his life.

The day started pretty normal.

There was rat trying to gnaw at his already unraveling shoelace, Paulie was snoring up a storm (he wasn’t getting up until noon at the latest) and Suri was carving something on the wall with her knife. In the distance, Jason swore he could hear sirens and screams—typical Gotham.

He was just trying try to find a place to stay.

Paulie’s alley has been home for a while, no one really bothers to get them out of there (something tells him Paulie’s more than he seems but he doesn’t really want to find out), but Jason doesn’t want his _activities_ to lead trouble there.

He doesn’t want people to figure out a pattern. To trace him back to the alley.

It really wasn’t his fault. He was minding his own business, even making sure to stay clear of “claimed” areas, but some cop recognized him and Suri from their little _stunt_ at a pharmacy last week and, well, one thing led to another and next thing they knew, they were face to face with a bunch of meatheads looking for a new toy to play with.

Sometimes, it’s better when you stop fighting back—less entertaining for the brutes, but Jason’s never been one to just take a beating.

It hurts to breathe and he can’t put any weight on his leg. He’s pretty sure his shoulder’s busted, too

It’s going to take a while before he can get back up.

“Suri?” Jason groans out and, okay, seems like he has a black eye, too, because he can’t really open his right eye right now.

“Here,” Suri says and he feels her touch on his hand. It stings but he welcomes the little warmth she provides. It’s almost winter and they’re going to have to figure out how to get warmer clothes soon. “‘m here.”

“You okay?”

“‘m okay.”

Jason doesn’t believe her because _he’s_ not okay and he’s been in fights like this before but he can’t do anything but take her word for it.

“Okay…okay.” Talking, like everything else, hurts. “I’ll just close my eyes for a sec, ‘kay? We’ll…we’ll go home after.”

…

Jason has a crick in his neck from how tense he’s being.

There’s snow falling outside the window and Jason’s glad to be indoors rather than out, he has to admit the mats laid out on the floor are far more comfortable than an old, soggy refrigerator box, but he’s not used to being in a room full of people.

Homeless shelters in Gotham are quick to fill up and Jason’s tried staying in them before, but somehow, he just can’t seem to _stay put._ It’s the people, he thinks. They’re nice, don’t get him wrong, but the volunteers look at him like he can be so much _more_ and it makes him itch.

He doesn’t want their pity.

He can do just fine with a mat. Maybe a pillow if he’s lucky.

There’s laughter behind him, someone’s already singing Christmas carols, and Jason tells himself that it’s only until the snow lets up.

He has a new hoodie from one of the donation boxes and gloves that have space to grow into. He can brave the cold for however long he needs to.

He can’t get too comfortable here.

_“Ach—nggg.”_

“Bless you.”

“Huh?” Suri rubs her nose with the back of her hand.

Jason finds himself smiling at the confused look she gives him. Also…Huh. What’s that stuck in her hair? Jason is just about to pluck it out, God knows he’s found some…interesting things in the girl’s hair before, when someone calls out to them.

“Jason! Suri!” It’s Paulie. He enters the main room, hobbling, and Jason can’t for the life of him tell where Paulie’s gotten his new clothes. The man’s dressed in red and white and has a fake, gray beard hanging on his stubbly chin.

He’s also hiding something behind his back. Jason quirks his brow at this. It’s not every day that Paulie willingly gets off his ass but when he does, he always comes back with what he likes to call “treasures.”

Jason thinks Paulie just has a habit of dumpster diving.

“Hey, Paulie,” Jason says and finds that there’s a comb stuck in Suri’s hair. At least this one makes sense. He makes quick work with getting it out and Suri gives him a smile when he hands it over. She starts combing the bottom half of her hair and Jason tries not to wince at the sound of hair pulling. It’s in tangles again—knots, really.

The shelter’s showers are heaven sent despite the lack of hot water, but shampoo supplies run out quickly and you can only dream of conditioner. Suri’s doing her best with a comb that has half of its teeth snapped off and, honestly, all that hair must be a pain to manage but Jason keeps his mouth shut.

Suri has this thing about her hair and, well, he witnessed firsthand what happens if you mess with it.

“C’mere, princess,” Paulie says as he settles into an old office chair. It groans under his weight but stays upright. Suri pockets her broken comb and walks over to the older man. Jason is reminded of a mall Santa Claus and now can’t get the imagine out of his head. “Ya know what every princess needs?”

Suri knits her brows together. “A horse?”

Jason snorts.

He remembers the movie playing in the electronics shop. It was that blonde princess again but this time she was with a horse. The week before that, she was in a forest with different kinds of animals. When she was dancing with eleven other characters, twirling around with new shoes, Jason practically had to drag Suri away from the screen before the shop’s employee reported them.

(He thinks that it won’t be long before Suri sneaks into a toy shop and takes a doll for herself. Jason knows there’s a multitude of her decorating the shelves.)

“A crown,” Paulie grins, pulling out a plastic crown and placing it on Suri’s head.

It looks like it was from a children’s birthday party—there are remnants of a nametag being scratched off, but Suri doesn’t seem to care. Rather, it seems like the plastic crown is the best thing Paulie could have brought over because Jason’s never seen a bigger smile on the girl’s face, not even when she managed to remove her first car tire on her own the other week.

(What? Jason thinks that’s something to smile about. It means they get to finish the job faster.)

“Nice one, Paulie,” Jason praises, walking over the two and readjusting the crown on Suri’s head so that it doesn’t fall off.

“Doncha worry, Jay-jay. I got something for ya, too.”

Paulie hands him a deflating balloon sword.

“Treasures, Jay-jay. ‘s what I’ve been tellin’ ya.”


End file.
